Chinese New Year. Year of the Horse. Also Pancake Day. Too much rain and not enough.

It’s Chinese New Year’s Day. On Sunday there were parades in Manchester as usual. I think they were a bit rained on this year but nobody seems to have minded.

It’s the start of the Year of the Horse. Some say that it’s the Fire Horse but all my earlier sources just said Year of the Horse. So I have crocheted some horses, following an amigurumi pattern, a type of crochet involving a lot of circular stuff. For the last five years (I think) I have crocheted two of the relevant animal at this time of year for our two youngest grandchildren, whose father is Chinese. This year I made horses.

It’s also Shrove Tuesday, aka Pancake Tuesday. Time for carnival to start properly. In Galicia they will be burying the Sardine.  In our house I’ll be making pancakes, proper crèpe pancakes, not the thick pancakes some people seem to favour these days, possibly an import from the USA.

Here’s a cartoon about pancakes.

I long ago gave up trying to toss pancakes. It may well be traditional but it’s also messy. With a good pancake pan, heated to a good temperature, an a careful use of the spatula, it’s quite possible to flip the pancake without having to toss it high into the air and try to catch it. There is no guarantee, after all, that it will land in the correct way in your frying pan. 

There was a time, a good 12 or 13 years ago when Granddaughter Number Two and Grandson Number One used to be dropped off here for breakfast a couple of days a week. We would have pancakes for breakfast, play a game of tig round the kitchen table and then rush out to the bus stop to catch the bus to their primary school. Pancakes are part of the family tradition, following my mother’s recipe! 

Here is a new word, perfect for a day like today which is bright and sunny but cold enough for puddles to be frozen first thing: 

Apricity - the pleasant warmth of the sun in winter. That cozy feeling that wraps around you when the air is cold.

Valentine’s Day has come and gone. Here’s a before and after pic of “Lovers’ Arch”, in Sant’Andrea, Puglia, Italy. On Valentine’s Day strong storm surges and heavy rain swept across southern Italy and the rocky arch, the backdrop for wedding proposals and romantic pictures, collapsed. 

There goes a tourist attraction! The mayor of the town said, “It is a devastating blow to the heart. One of the most famous tourist features of our coastline and of the whole of Italy has disappeared.”

While so many places in Europe (and elsewhere) are suffering from too much rain, Cyprus is having a drought. Residents are being asked to reduce their water use. Reservoirs are running dry and ancient monuments are reappearing from under the water of those reservoirs, like the St Nicholas church in the Kouris reservoir.

Meanwhile, I am seeing video footage of aqua alta in Venice. Strange times! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!